Crazy 8's

8 miles down.  Holy moly that's a long arse distance!

Can you believe it?  Doesn't it seem like I just started this journey yesterday? Monday will be the start of week 7 in my training program and I honest to goodness cannot believe I've made it this far, ha!  Not that I thought I would drop the running gig completely, but I thought it would take me longer to work up to the longer runs.  Turns out I'm just super awesome, so I'm staying on track.  That 13.1 bumper sticker is soooooo gonna be mine (said with fingers and toes crossed....eeeck, 13.1 still really really scares me!).

The Hubs plotted out our run the night before and we were both really excited (excited about running? strange.).  We decided to run from point A to point B instead of having to turn around at the half way mark.  This my friends is genius.  It makes the run so much easier when you don't have to have this whole conversation with yourself in the middle of your run...

"ackkk... you mean this was only the halfway part and I still have to run my happy behind all the way back to where we started, are you kidding me? running is so stupid.  I hate this. I need someone to blame for making me do this running thing. who me? no, it 's not my fault, gotta find someone else....hmmm, let me think....damn.  Have I really done this to myself?"



Seriously, this is what I deal with when I run.  Moving on...


The Hubs and I took separate cars so we could drop one at the end of the run and then drive back to the start line.   The trail took us on a 3 mile loop and then you "jump" onto a different trail to finish out the last 5 miles.  Now normally I am not the type of runner who even notices the scenery.  I'm more of a head down, ipod blasting, visor on, don't make eye contact with me, don't look up from the ground to catch a glimpse of how much further you have to run or the hill up a head, just keep soldiering on and stay focused.  However, this run was different.  The first 3 miles were on unpaved trails, so it was a bit of gravel, grass, sand, etc and it was so fun (?).  WAIT WAIT WAIT.....not so much "fun", but more like different and new, not the same ole boring loops we do in our neighborhood where you know every hill, every speed bump, every everything.  The last 5 miles were on a paved trail and the whole run was so flat, it was heavenly!  

Let's talk gear, shall we? 

Sparkly new Brooks
I decided to wear my new shoes for this run, even though I'm pretty sure most people will say you should slowly break in a new pair and not run 8 miles the first time you wear them.  Whatev's, those puppies feel like I'm running on clouds and there was no way I was gonna EVER go back to my old beat to death shoes.  It's hard to say if I had such a great run because of my new shoes, or if it was just an overall great run because the running gods had punished me enough with two previously awful runs earlier in the week.  Either way, the shoes were the bomb dot com and I'm super impressed with Charm City Run for creating such a love connection.

yes, my feet are large.

Fuel Belt
Dorkiness aside, this belt was fantabulous!  I filled up the 2 bottles with nuun enhanced water and then put my ID, car key and 3 GU gels in the little carry pouch (aka, fanny pack).  The Hubs brings his phone so I don't run with mine, but I'm fairly certain it would have fit in the pouch with everything else.  It took me roughly the whole first mile to figure out where the belt was most comfy on my waist, but once I got it in the right spot I was good to go.  The bottles were super easy to get in and out of the holder and the velcro on the pouch is really secure so I wasn't worried about anything falling out.  Oh, and there's a little thingy (great explanation, I know) for you to attach your keys to for added security.  Overall, I'm so glad I decided to geek out and buy a fuel belt.

practicality. check.

GU Energy Gels
Oh Lord, where do I even begin??  gross. vomit. vile. disgusting. never. ever. ever. again.  SERIOUSLY.   Mama no likey. bleh.  I'm having phantom gag reflex flash backs over here just writing about it.  We were at about mile 4 when I decided it was time to break out the reinforcements.  I was feeling pretty good, but knowing that I was only at the halfway mark I wanted to be sure that I was doing everything possible to keep my energy up and soo....dun, dun, dun....I opened up a GU.  My LFBIL had warned me that they were thick and to swish some water with them to help it go down, but sweet mother of all things gross.  I was not prepared.  I managed to choke half of it down, but when I went for my 3rd swig, it just wasn't happening.  No amount of water was gonna allow me to swallow another drop of that vanilla bean flavored disaster and so I ended up having to spit it out, all over the side of the trail, it was gross.  Pretty sure if someone had seen me they would have thought I was actually throwing up because of the NASTY consistency of the Gu mixed with a ton of water. yuckers.  Not to mention that little fiasco cost me a good portion of my water supply.  grrrrr!  Safe to say I won't ever try another GU gel, however I'm willing to give some of the other products a try, so I'll be heading back to the running store for round 2.


All in all it was a great run.  My legs felt strong and my breathing was on point, no gasping for air for this girl (not today anyway). 

Distance: 8 miles
Time: 1:25:30
Pace: 10:41

We shall see what my next run brings :)